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Iran, Russia and China begin joint naval drill

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The Axis of Evil.

All they are missing in their silly games is North Korea.

2 ( +16 / -14 )

Of course if the US, Japan, Australia, UK, France etc. are at it other countries will organize their own drills.

And all the elite together make a pile of cash on the production and sale of armaments.

3 ( +11 / -8 )

A few words of an utopian man: If resources, wasted on military drills for one year, are spent on Cancer research for example, there would be no cancer suffering in the world anymore.

7 ( +10 / -3 )

I keep listening to American government spokespeople nattering on about how NATO has 'many times the GDP of Russia' and that the US would be able to cut Russia off from being able to trade...

It's as if the American government can't process the fact that the US doesn't dominate the global economy and international trade, that the border states of the Imperium aren't absolutely dependent on the Imperium's core states (The US, UK, and France) anymore and actually do a lot of trading (often to the point where they're just as dependent on that 'foreign' trade as they are on 'domestic' trade with the rest of the Imperium) and that the days of divide and conquer are behind them.

3 ( +8 / -5 )

'21 Axis of Evil.

Screw the dirty dictatorships.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Whoops beat me to it Fight-oh !

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Drills, war games from the Iran, Russia and China, it is seriously being suggested the epitome supporting democratic principles of human rights, freedom of speech, autonomous principles of religious egalitarian worship.

These three states, regimes threaten world peace.

The Right life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression.

It is time to move beyond red lines and act.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

It is a tournament. THE UNITED NATIONs suck, and those always present UN verdicts suck twice

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

These three states, regimes threaten world peace.

The world is settling into factions and alliances as we move on a path towards conflict.

I wonder why some are not satisfied with peace and must attempt to alter borders to gain territory at the expense of others. Is it for money or resources or power or all three? The world has it's disagreements and differences. But is there a need to take from others and to initiate conflict?

These are worrying times in more ways than one.

Sometimes I despair that collectively we will be unable to unlock the secret to true tolerance and the ability to disagree without conflict.

Forcing others to bend to your will for profit or gain or power is something I detest and wish it would stop. I know it will not but that does not stop me from wishing otherwise.

Our species can be amazing, uplifting, generous and cruel all in the same day.

Military drills happen. All nations with a military prepare for war. Then at some point conflict happens.

It seems it just cant be stopped. I point a finger at nobody because all are capable of being instigators. We have peace, can we not just find a way to keep it? And for those who are at war, can we not help them to achieve the peace we have?

What will it take to be satisfied with what we have and work together if we want more?

I dont have the answer. But I know that war and conflict is not the way forward.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

This is a coalition united by complementary grievances. The US reaps what it sows…embargoing China for over two decades, pirating the Iranian tanker and selling millions of barrels of stolen oil. Modern Jesse James.

The formula is to first make accusations and charges - nuclear missiles development, weapons of mass destruction, genocide, territory expansionism, forced labor, systemic sterilization, rape, and so on.

Next place sanctions to weaken the economy and starve the people and convince them their government is evil. Tell the world their government is killing its own people.

Find a revolutionary group and sell weapons to it to cause unrest and eventually to overthrow the government.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

This is a coalition united by complementary grievances. The US reaps what it sows…

Really?

embargoing China for over two decades,

Not recognizing the communists for twenty years, over fifty years ago is enough excuse for China to punish a nation generations later? After it was the US that swung recognition to mainland China which the world followed, and invested in China for decades helping it prosper and grow, that deserves a conflict against it now? How cruel and hostile.

pirating the Iranian tanker and selling millions of barrels of stolen oil. Modern Jesse James.

Yes a serious instance that means the US should be punished with a war to kill tens or hundreds of thousands of them or more.

The US is far from perfect but excuses for conflict now are shallow and petty and decades after the fact as far as an embargo goes. Forget that the US helped defend China, sent supplies to China and ended its long time war against Japan. That counts for nothing. The US, as imperfect as it is, can not be responsible for all the worlds problems.

Many in the world now have grievances with China, should they make China pay in fifty years for what they do today? According to you that would be a just outcome.

Making excuses for conflict is making my point that we learn nothing, that we are unable to disagree without ending in conflict. Point your finger at the US and be prepared for others pointing their finger at China and Russia and Iran. Thats part of the problem, too many fingers being pointed and not enough solutions to issues that dont end in bloodshed.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Not recognizing the communists for twenty years,

No, I wrote embargo not “not recognizing.” Sanctions that are predatory in nature designed to weaken the economy and to starve the people. And for two decades during times of peace. The Communists are recognized by the US. They have a permanent seat on the security council in the UN. So it’s not clear what you mean by downplaying the embargo to not recognizing. One is an act of war. The other is simply a state of mind. You also write “punishing a nation generations later.”

Please explain how China has punished the US? Do you mean the tariffs in the trade war? How is that China’s initiative? D you mean by being the number one trading partner for the US? Are you saying China is responsible for damaging the USS Connecticut in the South China Seas? The USS Connecticut, per US Navy, ran into an underwater sea mountain - a major loss of face if the $80 billion dollar contract for nuclear subs Australia purchased is blind underwater - but the US isn’t crediting or blaming China for the damage. How is China punishing the US?

but excuses for conflict now are shallow and petty and decades after the fact as far as an embargo goes.

The excuses are not shallow because millions died. I’m not sure what you mean because I don’t even think you think that is shallow. There is scholarship on the direct and indirect effects of the embargo. What the US did is the equivalent of starving a family then blaming the parents/communists for neglect, abuse, and the murder of its own people. North Korea is another example.

Also I’m not sure you are suggesting that events that happened decades ago should be forgotten. Are you saying the China’s invasion of Tibet should not be mentioned in discussion because it happened in the last century? I could be wrong but wasn’t it you who often mention Tibet as an example of China’s expansionism?

As they were embargoed, they don’t wish for that to happen again. Their navy in the South China Seas is to prevent that. You call it a “conflict” but it is called self-defense.

If a man’s home is robbed and he buys a shotgun to protect his home, according to you, he’s creating “conflict.” It is his right to defend his home. China has a right to defend its shipping lanes in the South China Seas. The US reaps what it sows. This is the result of US sanctions on Iran and other countries including China. China does not want to see its tankers blocked because they’ve experienced that firsthand and the US is still doing that to countries today.

To those who say, “yeah but he’s spending more and more of his annual income every year to buy more shotguns than he needs.” So what? Is it your money? It’s his money. He buys what he thinks is sufficient to protect his home.

While China is building up it navy, the US Navy also has aggressive plans to modernize its fleet because of strong competition from the rise of China’s navy. That said, it is having trouble with rising costs and lack of technical skills.

The civilian shipbuilding industry no longer exists in the US, and many of the skilled workers and supplier companies are no longer around. This means that in order to build new ships, the US Navy has to pay higher prices to build these ships in US military shipyards.

Civilian shipbuilding is done mostly in China now, and China has the people, companies and equipment to support the growth of its navy, but the US Navy does not.

Due to the lack of skilled manpower, it takes up to three years to schedule ship maintenance and repairs for US Navy vessels. In contrast, China has a younger civilian and military shipbuilding industry, and costs are much lower. This is why Chinese naval shipyards have been able to produce more modern warships at a higher rate and at lower costs than US Navy vessels.

The Chinese navy’s main goal is to prevent a choke hold - that is sanctions and embargoes enforced through the seas - on its economy. It is their lifeline. The backup is the new silk roads that goes through Xinjiang, which is also why Xinjiang is a geopolitical center of potential conflict: trade routes.

You’ve mentioned the Senkaku Islands as another example of Chinese expansionism, one can easily argue for territorial dispute. Japan has territorial disputes with Russia and South Korea but would you think Japan is looking to expand into Russia or South Korea? Territorial disputes and expansionism are not the same.

Nations have a right to defend itself. On what grounds would you claim that Japan does not have a right to defend itself against China? Japan can work with the US, Australia, France, and make a bilateral treaty with every country in the region if it wishes to no matter what China thinks. The same with Iran, Russia, and China.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I guess it's inevitable that three of the most evil dictatorial countries on this planet would form an unholy alliance and try to bully the free democratic countries of the world with their brand of expansionist terrorism - how the hell has it been allowed to come to this, in 2022, that such shocking illiberal imbeciles can rule over one-quarter of mankind ?

More than ever, we need the strongest possible 'World's Policeman' in the guise of the monolithic U.N. to stand up to these horrendous bullies, to ensure every single person can enjoy a free and safe existence on earth, as his or her right.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

If the little friends of the "justice league" get together, it's very good, but if other countries that think differently get together, people start to whine: "Ooohhhh noooo the axis of evil"... Lol..

how the hell has it been allowed to come to this, in 2022, that such shocking illiberal imbeciles can rule over one-quarter of mankind ?

Each country has the right to its own self-determination, you have said it, we are in 2022, not the medieval ages, grow up ..

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

More than ever, we need the strongest possible 'World's Policeman' in the guise of the monolithic U.N. to stand up to these horrendous bullies, to ensure every single person can enjoy a free and safe existence on earth, as his or her right.

You are against countries different from the US interventionist ideology having alliances, but you want your "world police" to dominate the whole world, pathetic..

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Thank God for America. Whew!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Hopefully, Russia and China aren't making secret deals with each other to carve up and take over the world the way that Hitler and Staling did back in the 1930s.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It's as if the American government can't process the fact that the US doesn't dominate the global economy and international trade, that the border states of the Imperium aren't absolutely dependent on the Imperium's core states (The US, UK, and France) anymore and actually do a lot of trading (often to the point where they're just as dependent on that 'foreign' trade as they are on 'domestic' trade with the rest of the Imperium) and that the days of divide and conquer are behind them.

What you are missing is the ubiquity of the US Dollar as a medium of international trade. Two countries could be sworn enemies of the US but they will conduct their mutual trade in US Dollar denominated transactions and those transactions will clear through US banks. If the US passes a law to prohibit the use of the US Dollar and US financial system for transactions with Russia and Russian companies abroad, it would cut Russia off at the knees. It would be unable to trade. Russia has to pay for what it buys with something and it is in turn paid for the oil and gas it sells in some currency. But there really isn't any other currency aside from the US Dollar that is accepted everywhere in the world. Who wants to be paid in Rubles for something they sell to the Russians? They can only buy stuff from Russia with them. The Chinese don't want somebodies Rubles in exchange for something they sell. They want US Dollars. Same for most other currencies. So that is the big lever the US has. The problem with using it is it ends up harming some US allies who would no longer be able to trade with Russia. The US has to find ways to compensate them for what they are going to lose, mainly oil and gas but with winter upon us a loss of gas supplies would be catastrophic.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

For the well trained folks who have called Iran and Russia dictatorships and the trio the 'axis of evil', a simple question.

Wouldn't you say that designation would be better suited to a group of countries that contains one that refuses to condemn Nazism (and seeing as neither the US or Ukraine are in the trio, that means that you've misapplied that label)

0 ( +2 / -2 )

This is why Chinese naval shipyards have been able to produce more modern warships at a higher rate and at lower costs than US Navy vessels

There is a huge qualitative difference between a USN (or JMSDF) combat ship and a PLAN combat ship. I have seen all three navies up close and personal, along with RN, French, New Zealand, UK, Australian, German and Swedish military ships. Without giving away details, you can tell the Chinese have not fought a naval war in the age of powered, steel hulled ships. Even the European combat ships are not equal in terms of survivability and fire fighting to USN and JMSDF ships. The new Constellation class frigates the US Navy is building are based on the French/Italian FREMM design, but to meet NAVSEA standards a good 350 ton of steel had to be added to the structure to meet US Navy blast/shock resistance and water tightness standards, along with USN standard water tight doors and explosion proof lighting and electrical switches, stuff you don't see on many foreign combat ships. The Chinese ships I have seen are not even close so yes they are easier to construct and cost less.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Please explain how China has punished the US? Do you mean the tariffs in the trade war? How is that China’s initiative?

Chinese government organizes and conducts cyber espionage to steal the intellectual property of privately held companies and public corporations around the world but heavily in the US. Instead of investing in their own research and development programs they simply steal from others. To add insult to injury this allows the Chinese copycat to sell their product for less because there is no need to recoup the costs of developing the product.

Western firms that want to sell anything in China are forced by their government to take a Chinese equity partner. All that partner is there for is to learn the western companies business, their technology and undercut them with their own product that is a copy of what their western "partner" (sucker) sells.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Tokyo Living 4.50am:

Don't get personal - you misunderstood the concept of the United Nations as the 'World's Policeman' - their function is very clear, to ensure the rule of law is maintained and the bullying tactics of bigger, nastier countries not threatening or terrorising their smaller neighbours. Both Ukraine and Taiwan have the right as sovereign nations to safeguard their own existence and self-determination, and those who threaten to oppose this should be stopped.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

DT, considering that we're in the age of the cheap, self guided, long range missile, survivability against other ships is as obsolete a measurement as survivability against dive bombers.

These days, it's less about hulls and firepower, and more about electronics.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

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